Facebook hired Two of Coinbase's Former amid continued speculation on its crypto ambitions

Facebook hired two Coinbase employees this month, adding both Jeff Cartwright and Mikheil Moucharrafie to its compliance team, according to both Cartwright’s and Moucharrafie’s LinkedIn profiles.

The hires add to the intrigue surrounding Facebook’s Blockchain efforts, with mounting speculation on the social media giant’s crypto project, Libra. Evidence suggests Facebook has acquired a trademark for the name, and that the project includes the development of a stablecoin.

Indeed, the secrecy around the project is raising the concern of regulators. Last week the U.S. Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs asked questions of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg via an open letter addressing how the company plans to handle regulatory and privacy concerns if it launches a cryptocurrency payment system.

Cartwright left Coinbase for Facebook after five years at the cryptocurrency exchange, during which time he worked in compliance management and audit before stepping into the director role of its regulatory risk and exams team. Moucharrafie left after nearly four years working in a variety of roles at Coinbase, including as a compliance manager.

While their LinkedIn profiles do not directly address working on Facebook’s blockchain projects, Facebook is actively pursuing candidates for its blockchain team, with multiple job postings in blockchain-focused roles.